Saturday, February 03, 2007

Over at The Lactivist Blog, Jennifer Laycock blogs about breastfeeding issues and promotes breastfeeding. She also sells T-shirts with amusing breastfeeding slogans (e.g., "My kid sucks," "That's my baby's lunch you're staring at," etc.) One of her shirts says, "The other white milk," which is an obvious play on "The other white meat," a slogan of the National Pork Board.

Despite the facts that this is a harmless play on words, perhaps vaguely associates pork with the healthy and wholesome practice of breastfeeding, and is arguably a parody and thus protected speech anyway, the NPB took umbrage, and their law firm, Faegre and Benson, wrote a heavy-handed cease-and-desist letter to Jennifer. The lawyer who wrote the letter, one Jennifer Daniel Collins, apparently is not only concerned that people will confuse breast milk with pork, but is unable to tell the difference between a site that promotes breastfeeding and a site that promotes an adult breast feeding fetish. She wrote,

...your use of this slogan also tarnishes the good reputation of the National Pork Board's mark in light of your apparent attempt to promote the use of breastmilk beyond merely for infant consumption, such as with the following slogans on your website in close proximity to the slogan "The Other White Milk." "Dairy Diva," "Nursing, Nature's Own Breast Enhancement," "Eat at Mom's, fast-fresh-from the breast," and "My Milk is the Breast." (emphasis added)

Well, the pork has hit the fan, because this is all over the blogosphere and I have no doubt will hit the mainstream media real soon. So here are two clues for the clueless: NPB, don't pick on mothers. Ms. Collins, stick to the boiler-plate, because you aren't smart enough to editorialize about the people they pay you to bully.